Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well folks. I assumed my previously troubled female green would be able to take down a jumbo rat. She is a shy feeder so I left it in with her after puting her in her favoite after dish to eat in. She was all th way down one check on her...but the next visit in the room she had regurged it. I hope she is going to be alright. I wonder how long it is going to be until she eats again. I feel so bad for her.

Sorry for the boring post...I just hate when stuff like this happens.

` Years ago, when I was dealing with many customers' problem snakes, I used Kaopectate to soothe their gut. Some of the snakes I dealt with would try to eat, and keep it down, but just couldn't be comfortable enough to digest the meal. I would dip the nose of the food into the Kaopectate, applying perhaps one quarter of a teaspoon full , or less, to the head of the rat. Also, when dealing with problem eaters, I always gave them food items much smaller than they could have taken. I think that this is very important. I small meal will start them up, then leave them hungry, which is good.

` My theory is that their digestive process becomes hyperactive, producing too much digestive acid. I have carefully examined many regurged meals. Most of them have been pre-digested. This indicates to me that the digestion process is starting, and perhaps is too intense for the snake to bear. Hence, the Kaopectate will slow the process by diluting the acids. It is also my theory that too much Kaopectate would stop the digestive process. If the snake did not then vomit up the meal, I would expect it to die from the undigested food.

` I haven't been following this forum closel, recently. How long has it been since your Anaconda ate its last meal that was digested?

` Just read that there's a new formula of Kaopectate with bismuth, a la Pepto Bismol. I did not use this formula.

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Stop the world-I want to get off!

Actually Rich..she has been eating quite well. She keeps large rats down without a problem and I think this jumbo was just a bit much. She had it all the way in but I think she just could not ram it all into an area equipt for digestion. Bad call on my part. I have a ball python eating jumbos so i figured it would not be too much trouble for this green but I was incorrect. Sometimes I tend to go with larger meals and less frequent feedings but I probably shouldnt have stretched my odds. Thanks though for the tips. But in this situation I think she will be fine going back on a slightly smaller rat if she isnt stressed out from the regurge.